Welcome to the blog of the California Teachers Empowerment Network. CTEN is a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the public at large with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Dear Colleague,

Veteran teacher union watchdog Mike Antonucci has written
a piece for Education Next about the possible
ramifications of the Friedrichs v.
California Teachers Association case which he states could “fundamentally
alter the education labor landscape.” The in-depth article should be able to
answer many of your questions about the case which will be decided by the U.S.
Supreme Court next year. He points out the many fuzzy areas of union
expenditures and addresses the exclusive representation argument:

“No one is forced
to join a union—that’s already illegal,” said Michigan Education Association
president Steve Cook. The banning of agency fees “allows workers to get out of
paying their fair share of what it costs to negotiate the contract they benefit
from. Whether proponents call this ‘right-to-work’ or ‘freedom-to-work,’ it’s
really just ‘freedom-to-freeload.’”

That’s a pretty
strong argument, as far as it goes. Wouldn’t a Friedrichs defeat for the union
effectively force CTA members to subsidize benefits for nonpaying employees?
Perhaps, if the state government or the local school district were forcing the
CTA to be the exclusive representative of all bargaining-unit workers. But it
is the union that demands exclusive representation.

On the subject of Friedrichs,
the event sponsored by CTEN and the Association of American Educators last
month in Long Beach was very informative. As announced in the last newsletter, we
examined the Friedrichs and Bain lawsuits and their possible
ramifications for teachers and the general public. The panel discussion featured
lawyers and plaintiffs from both cases, and a lively audience Q&A followed.
The video of the event will be accessible on our website very soon. We will
alert you when it’s available.

Los Angeles a
half-charter district? If Eli Broad and some other philanthropists get their
way, that will be a reality within the next eight years. Los Angeles Times education writer Howard Blume broke the story:

According to a 44-page memo obtained by The
Times, the locally based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and other charter
advocates want to create 260 new charter schools, enrolling at least 130,000
students.

Organizers of the effort have declined to
publicly release details of the plan. But the memo lays out a strategy for
moving forward, including how to raise money, recruit and train teachers,
provide outreach to parents and navigate the political battle that will
probably ensue.

… the proposed expansion would mean more than
doubling the number of charter schools in Los Angeles, a feat that even backers
say might prove demanding.

An article posted last month by the Foundation for Economic
Education describes an educational model “in which the student is the customer.”
Written by Thomas Bogle, a public school teacher from Arizona, the piece
examines public education from a libertarian perspective.

When education becomes
a public good, the power to make decisions about the educational opportunities
for the majority of students falls directly into the hands of politicians and
unelected bureaucrats. While these groups can be responsive to parents with
children in the public education system — at least occasionally to a bloc of
angry voters — their voices are simply few among many. Even if the policymakers
offer more than lip service to the voting public, they have myriad other
constituents who all want their voices to be represented in this domain, too —
from developers who want to build $70 million football stadiums to the
teachers’ associations and unions.

In a similar
vein, Greg Forster, a senior fellow at the Friedman Foundation for
Educational Choice, writes:

At the root of our education debates is a
debate about the family. The government school monopoly is one of the most
important factors undermining the family unit; universal school choice would be
a big step toward strengthening it.

It’s no secret
that too many of our students are not “college ready” and, according to a new
study, it’s because students’ critical thinking skills are not what they should
be.

California teachers say critical
thinking skills, not scores on standardized tests, are the best way to assess
whether students are prepared for success in college and the
workplace, according to an online survey by EdSource in partnership with
the California Teachers Association.

Teachers said they have received much
more training on how to prepare students for college – and far less on
preparing them for non-college options.

They also said college and career
readiness has not been fully integrated into the professional development
training they have received to implement the Common Core State Standards.

The National
Council on Teacher Quality, a nonprofit and nonpartisan education policy
organization, has a new project called “Path to Teach.” Its website allows you
to “determine cost, location and where you'll get the best preparation for the
realities of the classroom.” The site is excellent for would-be teachers and
those in the field looking to advance. You can access rankings of more
than 1,100 colleges and universities and 85 alternative certification programs
to find the one that will guide you toward a successful career path. To learn
more, go here - http://www.pathtoteach.org/what-is-pathtoteach.jsp

Have a bullying
problem at your school? Bridg-it may be worth looking into. According to Lauren Weisbarth, teacher and Bridg-it team
member,

Bridg-it collects
and analyzes individual school data to increase school safety and to create a
positive school climate. It is a digital platform that enables the school
community to use strategies that employ proven, restorative techniques when
dealing with student incidences.

If you are a CTA/NEA agency fee
payer, now is the time to submit your rebate request. You must request your rebate this year (and every year!) by November
15th. If you are as much as one day late, you will not get a penny back.
Also, because liability insurance is important for teachers, we suggest joining
the Association of American Educators (http://www.aaeteachers.org/ )
or Christian Educators Association (http://www.ceai.org/) Both
AAE and CEAI are professional organizations, not unions, and are apolitical.
(Also, teachers who mention CTEN when they sign up with AAE for the first time
will get a $30 discount off the regular $198 first year membership.) For more
information, go to http://www.ctenhome.org/how-to-opt-out-teachers-union-nea-cta-aft-cft.html

Also, anyone wishing to donate to CTEN can do so very
simply through check, money order or PayPal - http://www.ctenhome.org/donate.htmlAs a non-profit, we exist only through
the generosity of others. Thanks, as always.